What you need to know if you get sick or hurt far from home

This is part of a series from CBC's Information Morning where Halifax health-care consultant Mary Jane Hampton discusses her "health hacks" — ways to make your experience with the health-care system better.

Navigating the health system when you're sick or hurt in Nova Scotia can be daunting, but when an emergency strikes far from home, it can be costly too.

Each province has a unique health insurance plan — and decides what is and isn't covered. An interprovincial reciprocal billing agreement allows the province where a patient receives care to send the bill back home.

But there are some notable exceptions, according to health-care consultant Mary Jane Hampton.

For one, not all physicians take part in this billing agreement.

"Which means that they may bill you extra if you're out-of-province and those are costs that you will need to expect to have as an out-of-pocket expense," said Hampton. "And you won't get reimbursed from those back in your home province."

She said patients should ask first if they're being billed for anything extra.

The "other big headache," according to Hampton, is that patients will almost always get billed if they need an ambulance outside Nova Scotia.

"So that is a pull-out-your-gold-card expense because that can get costly, and it can be really costly if you need an ambulance to get back home," she said.

Things get even more complicated when you travel out of country, said Hampton.

Travel insurance often comes with a list of exemptions.

"Some of those exclusions are things like extreme activities, like skiing or parasailing or horseback riding. So if you're going on a trip and that is why you're going on the trip, just be aware that the health insurance you may have bought might actually not cover you for what you're doing," said Hampton.

Dental emergencies also aren't covered, she said.

While some emergency health expenses can be reimbursed when you're back home in Canada, it's usually minimal, said Hampton. 

"It's not even going to pay for the coffee that you used in the waiting room," she said. "It's kind of $50 or $100 a day depending on what kind of in-hospital service you've needed."

Hampton's best advice is to read the fine print and ask about costs before you get home. She said it's also important to always get insured, even if you're heading across the border for a day of shopping.

"The $10 or $11 that you'll spend on an insurance policy is well worth the peace of mind because unexpected things happen, and in the U.S. system it can be devastatingly expensive."

READ MORE FROM OUR HEALTH HACKS SERIES